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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26537608">Miraculous of Cyanide</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryNexus/pseuds/LibraryNexus'>LibraryNexus</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bendy and the Ink Machine, Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(temporary), Body Horror, Character Death, Identity Reveal, Ink, Not Season 3 Compliant, Or Is It?, Tags May Change, Video Game Akuma, Worldbuilding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:33:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,886</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26537608</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryNexus/pseuds/LibraryNexus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette and Adrien are trapped by an unseen force in an abandoned cartoon studio. But what at first seems like a normal battle becomes something more sinister as secrets are revealed and the ink goes deeper. </p><p>For Dark nights are upon us...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Kid! Wake up!”</em>
</p><p><br/>
Adrian Agreste groaned and sat up. He was in a wooden hallway, one that had somewhat familiar posters hanging on the walls. Dark spots were in various corners. “Plagg?” he asked, blinking, hoping the blurriness would clear up soon. “Where are we?”</p><p><br/>
The black cat-like creature huffed and rolled it eyes. “I don’t know,” the kwami said. “You and your girlfriend were looking through that book your great-uncle left you and both of you got sucked into it, taking me along for the ride.”</p><p><br/>
“Marinette’s not my girlfriend-wait, she’s here!?!”</p><p><br/>
Plagg rolled his eyes. “Relax, kid,” he said. “She’s still knocked out. Do you think I would be out if she was?”</p><p><br/>
Adrien shot him a flat look. “Do you need me to answer that?” he asked.</p><p><br/>
Before Plagg could answer, Marinette let out a moan, making the kwami hide in his jacket. Adrien turned to face his friend.</p><p><br/>
“Five more minutes, Mamam…,” she said, rolling onto her side.</p><p><br/>
“Marinette,” Adrien said, shaking her. “Wake up!”</p><p><br/>
“Adrien?” she asked, blinking her eyes sleepily. “What are you doing in my room?” She blinked once again, then seemed to wake up fully. “This isn’t my room!”</p><p><br/>
“Are you okay?” Adrien asked, not knowing what else to say.</p><p><br/>
“I’m not okay!” Marinette cried, flailing her arms around. “I just woke up in a room I have never been in before, with no memory of how I had gotten in here, and I’m trapped in here with my cru-classmate! Yes classmate is what I was going to say, not anything else.”</p><p><br/>
Adrien had taken out his phone and was shining the light on the floor. “I think that an akuma must have done something,” he said, noticing that the floorboards appeared to be drawn on.</p><p><br/>
A rattle from behind him indicated that someone had tried the door. “Door’s locked,” Marinette said, sounding much more confident than she had been a few seconds ago. “So, you’re probably right.”</p><p><br/>
“That’s not good,” Adrien replied as he swung his light over to the walls. The posters on them were really familiar… “And I’m not getting a signal in here.”</p><p><br/>
“So until Chat Noir destroys the door, we’re stuck in here.”</p><p><br/>
Adrien coughed. “Well, him or Ladybug,” he added. <em>Because Chat’s a bit stuck right now…</em></p><p><br/>
Marinette giggled. “Yeah. Right. Or Ladybug. Can’t believe I forgot about her.”</p><p><br/>
Okay… Brushing that aside for later, Adrien swung his light down the hallway, revealing a room with a light coming from it. “I’m going to go exploring to see if I can find anything to help us. Do you want to wait here incase help comes?”</p><p><br/>
“Oh no, I better go with you. We shouldn’t split up in an unknown place,” Marinette said quickly. “Especially in a building made by an akuma.”</p><p><br/>
Adrien smiled, channeling a bit of Chat. “Well then, let’s go exploring, Princess.”</p><p><br/>
Marinette stopped and Adrien froze. <em>Oh no, he had messed up, his secret identity was blown…</em></p><p><br/>
But Marinette smiled and gestured in front of her. “Lead on, fair Prince,” she said.</p><p><br/>
<em>Phew.</em> His cover was safe. Although, he decided to keep Chat-like behaviors on a closer leash. “As the Lady wishes,” he said and stepped into the room at the end of the hallway. “It appears that we are in…”</p><p><br/>
His light fell upon a sign on the wall adorned with three large film reels.</p><p><br/>
“Joey Drew Studios.”</p><p><br/>
<strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p><p><br/>
Adrien frowned as he tried another doorknob, only to find it locked. He and Marinette had decided to search the lobby area first, to see if they could find anything.</p><p><br/>
Beside locked doors, all they found were posters and an old cutout that Adrien finally recognized as Bendy, a cartoon character that he finally recognized. Adrien was about to go down a new hallway, when he heard Marinette call from the other side of the room.</p><p><br/>
“Hey, look over here!” she said, standing over by a slanted desk. She was pointing at a picture of Bendy, with a small mouth instead of his trademark grin. “It’s so cute!”</p><p><br/>
Adrien smiled. <em>She looks so cute,</em> he thought. <em>No, bad Adrien, she’s just a friend, you’re in love with Ladybug.</em></p><p><br/>
While Adrien was struggling with denial, Marinette had picked up the piece of paper. “Do you think I can keep this?” she asked, peeling of the note with the word ‘NO’ off it.</p><p><br/>
Adrien shrugged. “I don’t see why not. It will probably go away when the akuma is cleansed.”</p><p><br/>
“I’m keeping it until then,” Marinette declared before sliding the paper into her bag.</p><p><br/>
Nothing of note was found in that hallway, so the two of them went down the hallway that Adrien had started down earlier. One of the doors opened, allowing them to enter a room filled with a bunch of tables and chairs.</p><p><br/>
“So, what kind of akuma do you think this one is?” Adrien asked, picking up three darts from a table.</p><p><br/>
“It looks like some kind of game akuma,” Marinette replied, flipping through a book. “I mean all of these pages are blank. And I did hear Max say that he was going to try out a game with a hand-drawn art style.”</p><p><br/>
Adrien thought for a moment. “The one Lila said that she inspired?”</p><p><br/>
“Yup, that’s the one.”</p><p><br/>
Exiting the room, they continued down the hall until they reached a sign hung from the wall.</p><p><br/>
“Ink Machine?” Marinette asked.</p><p><br/>
“I don’t know what that is,” Adrien admitted.</p><p><br/>
Going through the portal and stepping over a pipe, they entered onto a balcony looking out into a large chamber with chains reaching down from the ceiling into a large black hole.</p><p><br/>
“What’s this supposed to be?” Adrien asked, leaning against a post. However, unlike the doors, the lever mounted on the post was not fixed in place and went down.</p><p><br/>
Nothing happened.</p><p><br/>
“What the…?” Adrien tried moving the lever up and down a few times</p><p>.<br/>
“It looks like it is missing something,” Marinette said, looking around. pointing at two empty slots, she added, “I think it needs batteries or something.”</p><p><br/>
“Like that one?” Adrien asked, noticing a box resting on a nearby shelf with a miniature lightning bolt on the side.</p><p><br/>
“Yes! Like that-WAH!” In her haste to get the battery, Marinette had somehow tripped over air and had fallen over the trunk next to the door, causing it to open.</p><p><br/>
“Marinette!” cried Adrien. “Are you alright?”</p><p><br/>
“I’m fine…” came her voice. “This happens all the time…”</p><p><br/>
“If you’re sure…” Adrien then noticed the contents of the chest. “Mari, you found the other one!”</p><p><br/>
“Yay. Lucky me.”</p><p><br/>
Inserting the two batteries, the two of them place a hand on the lever and pushed down.</p><p><br/>
“Alright,” Marinette said. “Let’s see what this place is hiding.” She then showed a look of confusion.</p><p><br/>
Adrien didn’t pay attention, as most of his focus was taken up by the large machine that was being raised up from the chasm by the heavy chains. It was a large and boxy device, with an oversized nozzle jutting out and gears visible on the sides. A long pipe extended down into the darkness, speaking of hidden depths.</p><p><br/>
And despite it sharing the same cartoony design of the rest of the building, it exuded an aura of despair and malice. Adrien inwardly shuddered but tried to put on a brave face for Marinette.</p><p><br/>
Who didn’t seem to be doing too good herself. “This is one of the creepier akumas,” she finally said.</p><p><br/>
“Yeah,” Adrien agreed. “I wonder how you turn it on?”</p><p><br/>
She looked at him wide-eyed. “Do you want to turn it on?” she nearly shrieked.</p><p><br/>
“No,” he answered. Looking back at the machine, he added, “But if we want to continue the game… I don’t think we have a choice.”</p><p><br/>
Marinette shivered. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”</p><p><br/>
Leaving the room, they saw that a metal door that had been closed had opened, creating a new path. Despite a board nearly hitting Adrien, the journey down the right hall passed without incident. The room at the end of the hall held six pedestals and a lever that had ‘Ink Machine’ written above it.</p><p><br/>
“Why would someone put the lever here?” Marinette asked as she tried to pull the lever down.</p><p><br/>
It refused to budge.</p><p><br/>
“Okay, why isn’t this working?”</p><p><br/>
“Maybe we missed something?” Adrien suggested.</p><p><br/>
“I guess you’re right. Maybe there’s something down the other hall.”</p><p><br/>
After Marinette left the room, Plagg floated out and shook his head. “I don’t like this, kid,” he said. “This doesn’t feel right.”</p><p><br/>
“I know,” Adrien said. “But what other choice do we have? Until Ladybug appears, it’s probably best to play along.”</p><p><br/>
Plagg was about to reply when he closed his mouth. “Did you feel that?” he asked.</p><p><br/>
“Feel what?” Adrien started to say when a scream echoed from down the other corridor.</p><p><br/>
“That sounded like Marinette!” Adrien cried, and he ran down the hallway, running into a cutout that had appeared in the middle of the floor.</p><p><br/>
“Who put this here?” he asked as he picked himself up and kept running.</p><p><br/>
He found Marinette in the next room, staring at a leaning table inside, hands held up to her mouth.</p><p><br/>
“Marinette,” Adrien began. “What’s wrong-”</p><p><br/>
He then looked inside the room. And nearly threw up.</p><p><br/>
In the middle of the room, there was a leaning table, large enough to hold a body. Four candles had been lit at the corners, casting an eerie glow over the entire room.</p><p><br/>
On the table was the black cartoon wolf from the posters, dressed in paper-white overalls. He was strapped onto the table, with his head lolling to the left. Black X’s replaced the eyes, and one strap was off the body.</p><p><br/>
His chest was torn open, with a surgically clean removal. The wrench inside was framed by blocky ribs, with black liquid on the tips.</p><p><br/>
Marinette let out a sob and grabbed Adrien.</p><p><br/>
“Boris,” Adrien breathed as Marinette held on tightly to him. “What has happened here?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After what seemed to be an eternity, Adrien finally spoke. “What games has Max been playing?”</p>
<p>Marinette makes a strange sound. “Y-yeah, it-it’s just part of a game. It’s not like it’s real or… anything…”</p>
<p>The two of them stood in uneasy silence. “Let’s… move onto the next room,” Adrien finally said.</p>
<p>They left the room, leaving the dead wolf behind, only to be met with another surprise.</p>
<p>“Where did the cutout go?”</p>
<p>Marinette looked at Adrien. “What cutout?”</p>
<p>Adrien looked at her. Finally, he said, “There was a Bendy cutout right here in the middle of the hallway. I ran into it!”</p>
<p>Her eyes narrowed. “We’re not alone,” she said ominously. “We got to keep moving,” she said. “Hopefully, we won’t run into Gamer.”</p>
<p>“Why do you think that Max did this?” Adrien asked as they carefully made their way down the hallway.</p>
<p>“What else could it be? Now, keep an eye out for clues.”</p>
<p>“Clues?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, clues. Games like this one usually have some kind of clue system to help new players get through it.”</p>
<p>“Like a tape player?”</p>
<p>Marinette looked over to where Adrien was pointing. Resting on a table was an old tape player with a tape recorded by one <em>Wally Franks</em> inserted. “Perfect!” she said, picking it up and clicking the play button. “Hopefully this will tell us what to do next.”</p>
<p>The tape gave a crackle of static before smoothing out into words. <em>“… get what Joey’s plan is for this company. The animations sure aren’t being finished on time anymore. And I certainly don’t see why we need this machine. It’s noisy, it’s messy, and who needs that much ink anyway?</em></p>
<p>
  <em>“Also, get this, Joey had each one of us donate something from our work station. We put them on these little pedestals in the break room. to help appease the gods, Joey says. Keep things going.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“I think he’s lost his mind, but hey, he writes the checks.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“But I tell you what, if one more of these pipes burst, I’m outta here!”</em>
</p>
<p>The two teens stared in silence after the tape ended. Finally, Adrien spoke up. “Well, that was… enlightening.”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” added Marinette. “Objects on pedestals, do you think he was talking about the pictures?”</p>
<p>“Seems like our best bet,” Adrien said as he put the tape player down. “So, we’re looking for a book, a toy, a gear, a wrench, an inkwell, and a… music note?”</p>
<p>Marinette patted him on the back. “I’m sure it will be clear when we see it, Ki-Adrien!”</p>
<p>Adrien blinked. What? Had Marinette almost called him <em>Kitty?</em></p>
<p>He turned around to find the young designer facing away from and mumbling very quickly under her breath. <em>“Omigosh, omigosh, omigosh!”</em></p>
<p>“Mari, are you okay?” he asked, concerned.</p>
<p>And that was when the cutout fell out of the closet and all questions were forgotten.</p>
<p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p>
<p>Fortunately for Marinette’s piece of mind, she didn’t make any more slipups as she and Adrien gathered the rest of the items scattered around the building and placing them on the stands. Two switches and another cutout later, both of the Parisian teens could hear ink rumbling through the pipes. However, when they got back to the room the Ink Machine had been in, they ran into another problem.</p>
<p>Boards had been put up over the entrance to the balcony.</p>
<p>“Where did-?”</p>
<p>And then it appeared.</p>
<p>It was Bendy, but not the cute little devil from the posters. He had been stretched out, long and skinny, with human-like ribs jutting out under the inky skin. A long spindly limb reached out from behind the boards, reaching for the two teenagers standing in front of it. It was a sight that would trigger the ‘flight’ response of anyone who saw it.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for it, this time ‘fight’ was chosen.</p>
<p>
  <em>“Spots on!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Claws out!”</em>
</p>
<p>Twin flashes of light and then ‘Bendy’ was hit by a black-spotted red covered fist and a black gloved one. The monster staggered backwards and tripped over the rails into the pool coming out of the Ink Machine. That was when the pair noticed their companions change of attire.</p>
<p>“You’re Ladybug/Chat Noir?” they asked at the same time.</p>
<p>But before either of them could start freaking out, the ‘Bendy’ monster roared and came jumping back over the railings.</p>
<p>“We’ll talk about this later,” Marinette said, Ladybug coming to the fore. “Right now, we have an akuma to take care of.”</p>
<p>Adrien blinked, then switched to Chat Noir’s signature grin. “Then let’s do this quickly, My Lady.”</p>
<p>‘Bendy’ started tearing at the boards across the entrance while the superheroes ran down the corridor. They reached the first room and turned to face where the akuma would come from.</p>
<p>“What’s the plan, My Lady?” Chat asked.</p>
<p>“Hit him hard,” Ladybug replied.</p>
<p>“Hit him hard,” Chat said. “I can do that.”</p>
<p>With a roar, the akuma came barreling out of the hallway, mismatched hands reaching for them. Just as quickly, the two heroes jumped to the side, letting ‘Bendy’ race between them. But instead of hitting the wall, it vanished in a splash of ink.</p>
<p>“What…?” Chat asked before ‘Bendy’ rushed out of another wall heading toward him. Chat was only saved from getting ran over by a timely yo-yo string.</p>
<p>“Got to keep on your toes, <em>chaton,” </em>Ladybug teased. “Don’t want to get you ran over.”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Chat groused. “Because I didn’t think that he <em>could just walk through walls</em>!”</p>
<p>“Hmmm,” Ladybug hummed, her eyes lighting upon the still running projector. What if… “Chat! Grab that reel!” she cried as she dodged another rush.</p>
<p>A swing of a pole, and the reel was knocked off the machine and into Chat’s hand. “Now what, Bugaboo?”</p>
<p>“Stop calling me that!” Ladybug said, scanning the room. “And… now!”</p>
<p>She threw her yo-yo the same time Chat threw the reel, keeping one hand on the film. Miraculously, the two lines crossed and wrapped themselves around ‘Bendy,’ stopping him in place. “Gotcha!” she cried, pulling her string tight.</p>
<p>“I have to say, My Lady,” Chat Noir said, as he started stepping closer to the akuma, keeping the film tight, “I think that this was one of our quickest fights.”</p>
<p>“Don’t count your chickens yet, Chat. what do you think the object is?”</p>
<p>“I’m thinking that glove looks <em>reel</em> suspicious.”</p>
<p>Ladybug paused in her pulling to give Chat a Look<em>. </em>“Really?” she asked. “You went with that? I thought you were going to go with ‘a <em>reel </em>catch.’”</p>
<p>“Hey, cut me some slack, I’ve been distracted by… you know.”</p>
<p>“We’ll talk about that later, Kitty, do your thing now.”</p>
<p>“Doing the thing. <strong><em>CATACLYSM!”</em></strong></p>
<p>Dark energy erupted from his hand and he slowly extended it towards the oversized glove. But before he could make contact, ‘Bendy’ vanished into the floor. Caught off guard by the sudden lack of balance, Chat fell down, his hand touching the floor.</p>
<p>Immediately, the floor began rotting, dissolving into splinters and sawdust. The destruction spread fast, much, much faster than the two superheroes had been expecting, destroying the floor and sending them into the dark inky depths below.</p>
<p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p>
<p>Chat surfaced from the pool of ink he had landed in, spitting a little of it out. “Ladybug!” he called, looking around for her.</p>
<p>To his relief, he saw a soft blue glow as she opened her yo-yo and waved it at him, the light highly visible in the dark. He sloshed his way over to her as she seemed to pick something up and read it. He reached her as she turned on the cassette in her hand.</p>
<p>
  <em>“It’s dark and it’s cold, and it’s stuck behind every wall now. In some places, I swear this ink is clear up to my knees. Whoever thought that these crummy pipes could hold up under this kind of strain either knows something about pressure that I don’t, or he’s some kind of idiot.”</em>
</p>
<p>“Sounds like Wally wasn’t the only one who had a problem with Mr. Drew,” he said, going over to a valve he saw on a nearby pipe.</p>
<p>Ladybug set the tape back on the shelf as the message played on. “I can’t believe the amount of detail put into this game,” she groused, wading after him.</p>
<p>The two of them waded through the draining ink in silence, looking for more valves. Suddenly, Chat Noir spoke up. “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>Ladybug looked up at him. “What for?” she asked.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry I kept flirting with you, especially when you asked me to stop.”</p>
<p>Ladybug shook her head. “I didn’t mind the flirting,” she said. “You just need to work on your timing-”</p>
<p>“No, I shouldn’t have done it, especially with Luka…”</p>
<p>“Wait, what about Luka?” Ladybug asked, confused.</p>
<p>“Isn’t he the boy you are in love with?”</p>
<p>“The boy I was- No! Kitty… the boy I kept rejecting Chat Noir for was Adrien.”</p>
<p>Chat blinked. “Wait, we’ve been in a love square this entire time?”</p>
<p>Ladybug nodded. “Yes. And when we get home, I am going to scream into my pillow until I can process this.”</p>
<p>“Sounds fair.” His ring beeped. “We better hurry, My Lady. I’m down to three pads.”</p>
<p>“Right,” Ladybug replied, serious as she turned a third valve. “I think this is the last one.”</p>
<p>The ink lowered, disappearing through the floor, revealing a door. Opening it revealed a room with boards covering the exit and an ax on a table.</p>
<p>“Do we even need this?” Ladybug asked, picking up the ax.</p>
<p>Chat looked at the boards and then swung his baton down. The weak boards broke easily when faced with the magic tool. “I don’t think so,” Chat said, splitting his baton in half and swinging both halves.</p>
<p>Two beeps of furious hacking later, Chat had cleared a path to another room. Opening the door, the two heroes found an ominous room, with two coffins leaning against the wall, and a pentagram on the floor.</p>
<p>“Did someone forget to clean up after Halloween?” Chat asked.</p>
<p>Ladybug quickly looked around the room. “This looks like a good place where we can recharge,” she said. “We can then go after the akuma. I have a few ideas on how to restrain it.”</p>
<p>“Right,” Chat said. “Plagg, claws in.”</p>
<p>The suit disappeared, leaving him as Adrien Argeste.</p>
<p>
  <em>~a switch was pulled, and the gears on the large machine began turning~</em>
</p>
<p>And then…</p>
<p>
  <em>~an empty wheelchair rolled backwards~</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Adrien!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>~the ‘Bendy’ creature, reaching for his he-</em>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>
      <span class="u">“CATACLYSM!”</span>
    </em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Darkness…</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>
  <em>Chapter 1 is completed…</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Bendy will return…</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Interlude I</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A look back in Paris, and someone notices a friend is missing...</p><p>12/30/2020 Note: Redid the Alya section, I realized that it wouldn't have worked the way I had written it... Hope this is better.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her phone clattered to the ground while Alya tried to process what had just happened in front of her.</p><p>She and Marinette had decided to meet up in the park for a day of hanging out with Nino and Adrien, who had finally been given permission to hang out with them. The four of them were going to go see a movie and <em>maybe </em>get Marinette to confess…</p><p>Okay, maybe not. But hey, a girl could dream.</p><p>But all thoughts of matchmaking had fled Alya’s mind. Surprisingly, Marinette had gotten to their designated meeting spot before her and had been sitting next Adrien looking over a book he had been holding…</p><p>When the book had unleashed a torrent of black goo and suck the two readers in.</p><p>Finally, Alya snapped out of her shock and grabbed her phone, only to let out a muffled curse. Her screen had shattered when it had hit the ground, leaving incapable of getting to the Ladyblog and contacting Ladybug about the latest akuma (because what else could it be?). She started heading out of the park, intent on either reaching home or someone with a phone.</p><p>She ran into someone first.</p><p>“Hey, miss,” she said, addressing the red-haired adult. “Could I borrow your phone?”</p><p>The woman turned around and grinned. “Hey, Mini-Rena, where’s the fire?”</p><p>Alya was confused. “Do I know you?” she asked. “And what’s with the FNaF reference?”</p><p>“Wait, Sister Location’s been released?” the woman asked, pulling out her phone <em>and since when were flip phones so advanced? </em>“Huh, so it was. Well, I be derned.”</p><p>“Two th- no, three things,” Alya said, shaking herself out of her phone stupor. “One, what model of phone is that? Two, where can I get one? Three, can I use it real quick?”</p><p>The woman laughed as she held the phone over her head. “One,” she replied, “this won’t be out for about twenty years. Two, I don’t know, a friend of mine got it for me. And three, no, I can’t let you do that.”</p><p>“What?” Ayla nearly screeched. “But my friends have been kidnapped by an akuma, we have to contact Ladybug-”</p><p>“First off,” the woman interrupted, “That wasn’t an akuma. That was an evil that has been growing for the past seventy years or so. Secondly,” here the woman grimaced, “Ladybug already knows.”</p><p>“Then why hasn’t she done anything?” Alya asked.</p><p>“You just saw her get sucked into a sub-dimension,” the woman said abruptly. “Now come, we’ve got to grab your boyfriend and save our resident superheroes.”</p><p>Alya didn’t hear anything else the woman said, her mind circling around three facts.</p><p>Marinette was Ladybug.</p><p>Marinette was missing.</p><p><em>Ladybug</em> was missing…</p><p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p><p>The man picked himself off the floor gingerly, his legs shakier than they had been in years.</p><p>What had happened? He had been about to sit down to work on the story, when dark energy had lashed out over the paper, sending him to the ground.</p><p>He sat himself down in his chair and straightened his papers. What was that energy? Did it affect any of his work?</p><p>And who were these two?</p><p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p><p>In the park where four friends had planned to meet, a book laid on the ground, partially hidden in the shadow of a bench. A hand grasped it and pulled it out, the hand’s owner looking at the cover.</p><p>“Cool book,” Alix Kubbel said, looking at the grinning face of Bendy on the cover.</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>
  <em>The first Interlude is done.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Ladybug will return…</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In case people were wondering, this is set in the middle of Season 3, after Timetagger and before Feast.<br/>Also, lore incoming.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Adrien! Wake up!”</em>
</p><p>Adrien let out a groan as he was dragged back to consciousness. “Ughh… what happened?”</p><p>“You blacked out, kid,” Plagg said, floating into view. “I told you I had a bad feeling about this place.”</p><p>Adrien sat up against the wall, finally noticing a rather large hole in the floor. “What happened there?” he asked.</p><p>“You stepped onto a transmutation circle,” Plagg said plainly. “It activated when you stepped on it, but I was able to destroy it before it did anything.”</p><p>“Wait,” Adrien said. “Where’s Ladybug?”</p><p>“Pigtails went ahead to scout. Don’t know when she’ll be-”</p><p>“We’re back!” Ladybug interrupted, stepping through the open door. “Spots off!”</p><p>As Ladybug’s transformation unraveled, Adrien pulled out a piece of slightly squashed cheese. “Do you have a plan to get us out of here, My Lady?” he asked as Plagg began eating the offered cheese.</p><p>Marinette shook her head. “Not right now,” she said. “We can’t go back the way we came-”</p><p>“Why not?” Adrien asked. “I’m pretty that my baton can reach all the way up.”</p><p>“Plagg destroyed the hallway when he destroyed the circle,” she replied.</p><p>The tiny cat god burped. “Excuse me,” he said.</p><p>Adrien shook his head. “So, what do we do? I don’t think we have faced an akuma like this before.”</p><p>“It’s not an akuma,” a ladybug-colored kwami said, floating into view. “At least, not the kind that you are familiar with.”</p><p>“What do you mean, Tikki?” Marinette asked.</p><p>The new kwami, Tikki, started explaining. “Up until now, the two of you have been fighting corrupted champions of the Butterfly Miraculous.”</p><p>“What does that have to do with it?”</p><p>“Different kinds of magic encourage different traits. And ultimately, despite the current owner, the Butterfly is a producer of life magic, magic of empathy and change.” Tikki shuddered. “This foe…”</p><p>“Just say it, Teeks,” Plagg interjected. “It’s blood magic.”</p><p>Marinette blanched. “I’m guessing that’s bad?” Adrien asked, his heart pounding.</p><p>“Very bad,” Plagg confirmed. “Blood magic is one of the worst kinds of magic. While it has some use in some healing spells, most of it is extremely dangerous. Use of blood magic tends to amplify the worst traits of mortals, so even those with benign motives will eventually descend into madness.” He shuddered. “I’ve had the misfortune of… meeting some long-time users of it.” Seeing the pale faces of the Parisian teens, he quickly added, “Not that you two are in any danger! While you are wearing your Miraculous, you are immune to the corruption!”</p><p>“Okay,” Marinette said, helping Adrien up. Looking at Plagg, she added, “Anything else you can tell us?”</p><p>“There’s going to be a focus for the spell, maybe more,” Plagg answered. “The more foci, the more powerful the spell is. Once we find them, we will have to destroy them, and Pigtails will have to purify what comes out.” Plagg’s nose wrinkled. “Those six items were probably the foci.”</p><p>“If they were, they weren’t the real ones,” Tikki interjected. “I didn’t sense anything disturbing about them. Well,” she added, looking at the cartoony surroundings, “nothing more so than anything else in this place.”</p><p>“Also, we are not alone,” Marinette added.</p><p>“Huh?” Adrien asked.</p><p>“While I was exploring, I saw someone else. They were carrying a cutout and whispering something. I tried to follow him, but he had disappeared.”</p><p>“Do you think he will help us?”</p><p>“Probably not,” Plagg cut in. “Depending on how long he has been in here, he’s going to be a few slices short of a cheese platter.”</p><p>Marinette slumped. “So much for that idea,” she lamented.</p><p>“I will say this, though,” Plagg added. “If anyone <em>has </em>managed to retain their sanity down here, they would be one of the most stubborn, most bull-headed, most determined people who ever lived.”</p><p>-<strong>MToLaCNBatIM</strong>-</p><p>“Alright Joey. I’m here. Let’s see what you wanted me to fiIINNNDDDD!!!”</p><p>A beat.</p><p>“What the hell happened here?”</p><p>-<strong>MToLaCNBatIM</strong>-</p><p>“But the odds of us finding anyone here is pretty much nil.”</p><p>“You know, Plagg,” Adrien said. “This has been the most helpful you have ever been.”</p><p>Tikki giggled, a bit of humor returning to her eyes. “Plagg can be helpful once in a while,” she said. “He’s just too lazy most of the time.”</p><p>“This is nice and all,” Plagg spoke up, “but can we get a move on? This ink is clinging to my skin, and it’s going to taste terrible when I have to clean it all off!”</p><p>“Here’s an idea,” Tikki said as Adrien started to speak the transformation phrase. “You could take a bath.”</p><p>“But I hate baths!” cried Plagg as he was sucked into the miraculous.</p><p>Tikki only giggled as she went into the earrings.</p><p>Now suited up, Ladybug led Chat back through the open door. Going down a stairwell, the pair found themselves in a large room lit with candles and decorated with images of Bendy.</p><p>“I’m sensing a trend here,” Chat said as he picked up another tape player. “Hey, Ladybug what’s on this one?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I must have missed that one the first time I went through here.”</p><p>“Well, let’s see,” was all that Chat said before he turned it on.</p><p>
  <em>“He appears from the shadows to rain his sweet blessings upon me. The figure of ink that shines in the darkness. I see you, my savior. I pray you hear me.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Those old songs, I still sing them. For I know you are coming to save me. And I will be swept up into your final loving embrace.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But, love requires sacrifice. Can I get an amen?”</em>
</p><p>Ladybug and Chat Noir exchanged a look. “Okay, that is kinda creepy,” Adrien finally said.</p><p>“I said, can I get an amen?”</p><p>With reflexes born of battle, the superheroes spun around, weapons facing to where the voice had come from.</p><p>But there was no one there.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 2-2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ladybug stood wary, eyes darting to every darkened corner. “Do you see anything?” she asked.</p><p>“No,” Chat replied, still tense. “But that doesn’t mean anything.”</p><p>Ladybug had to agree with him. Especially with the abilities one of the inhabitants had shown. “Just keep an eye out,” she said.</p><p>The two of them came to the inky hallway Ladybug had turned around at and crossed without incident. However, they came to an obstruction.</p><p>“So how do we open this one, Bugaboo?” Chat asked regarding the closed door in front of them.</p><p>“I think we need to redirect power to this switch,” Ladybug finally answered, playing with it. “It looks like there’s three of them.”</p><p>After a bit of backtracking, they had found two of the switches. The third one proved to be harder to find.</p><p>“Maybe it’s behind this thing?” Chat asked, trying to move a cutout so he could look behind it, only for the head to break off. “Oops.”</p><p>“Careful, kitty,” Ladybug said, picking up a can off the shelf beside the decapacitated cutout. “It seems a lot of stuff in here is pretty old.”</p><p>“Right,” Chat replied, dropping the head. “Do you think that soup’s still edible?”</p><p>Ladybug grimaced. “If you’re desperate, maybe,” she answered. “Really, <em>really </em>desperate.”</p><p>“Right, save it for Plagg,” Chat said, ignoring the shrill beep that sounded from his ring without the loss of a pad. “Hey, I think the switch’s behind these cans!”</p><p>Knocking the cans to the ground did reveal the third switch, which let out a satisfying click. Ladybug turned to Chat but her gaze caught something else.</p><p>“Didn’t you break that cutout, Chat?” she asked.</p><p>“I thought so…” The two heroes looked at each other. “Let’s just keep moving.”</p><p>“Yeah, let’s.”</p><p>The door opened without any incident, revealing a boarded-up entrance. Breaking them up, the two heroes entered the room beyond.</p><p>The room behind the boards was dark, with only a few faint lights and candles trying to keep the room lit. A sign had been painted on the wall that was unreadable in the dark.</p><p>“We appear to be in the Music Department, M’Lady,” Chat offered. Oh right, he had night vision.</p><p>“Do you see anything interesting?” she asked.</p><p>“There’s another tape player, a gramophone… oh, and stairs!”</p><p>“Stairs?” she asked, following Chat as he went around a corner.</p><p>“Yes, they’re right here!” Chat said, looking down a hallway. “And it’s flooded by ink, what are the odds?”</p><p>“Maybe this will do something,” Ladybug pulling at a switch.</p><p>The ink didn’t disappear, but the lights came on.</p><p>“Well, at least you can see,” Chat offered.</p><p>“Yeah, there’s that,” Ladybug answered, stepping back out before stopping. “I don’t remember that much ink on the floor…”</p><p>Suddenly, a thing shot out of the ink, half a person, inky black and featureless. Immediately, it reached for Ladybug, only to be struck down by Chat’s baton.</p><p>“What was that?” she nearly shrieked, as the body dissolved into ink.</p><p>“Don’t know, but we’ve got more of them!” Chat answered back.</p><p>More of the inky torsos appeared, crawling towards the two teens as soon as their hands hit the floor. While they outnumbered the heroes, they went down in one hit, and the pair were able to take them down fairly quickly.</p><p>Ladybug stood panting as the last one dissolved into the ink. “What were those things?” she asked.</p><p>“I don’t know,” Chat said, shaking ink off his baton. “But I think I have an idea.”</p><p>“What is it?”</p><p>“It’s just… you know how Plagg was going on about blood magic…”</p><p>“Yes… oh!” Ladybug felt herself going green. “Let’s… revisit that topic later,” she hastily said, <em>desperately trying not to think where the fluid to power the</em> <em>ritual would come from. </em>“Much,<em> much </em>later.”</p><p>“Right.” Chat walked over to the tape player and picked it up. “Let’s see what Sammy Lawrence has to say,” he said turning it on.</p><p>The machine let out a crackle and words came out. <em>“So first, Joey installs this ink machine over our heads. Then it begins to leak. Three times last month, we couldn’t even get out of our department because the ink had flooded the stairwell.</em></p><p>
  <em>“Joey’s solution? An ink pump to drain it periodically. Now I have this ugly pump switch in my office. People in and out all day.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Thanks, Joey. Just what I needed. More distractions. These stupid cartoon songs don’t write themselves, you know.”</em>
</p><p>The two heroes looked at each other. “Doesn’t this guy sound like the amen guy?” Chat asked.</p><p>“Yes, he did,” Ladybug answered. “only, he seems a bit more… sane?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Chat said. “Well at least we know where to go now.”</p><p>Fortunately, they found the office easily. Unfortunately, there was an obstruction in front of the door in the form of a large flowing ink spill.</p><p>“Okay, there’s no way we’re getting past that,” Ladybug said, looking upon the spewing ink.</p><p>“Yeah, that’s one heck of a leak,” Chat answered.</p><p>“Unfortunately, there’s the switch on the other side of this door.”</p><p>Taking out his baton, Chat tapped the glass. “Think we can break this?” he asked. “I don’t think this will hold up to my Cata-”</p><p>“Not now, kitty,” Ladybug said, cutting him off. “We might need your power later. Maybe there’s some way to stop it?”</p><p>“Well then, this looks promising,” Chat said, going to a nearby door and trying it. “Looked,” he announced. “But the knob jiggles, so, maybe it can open?”</p><p>That was when Ladybug noticed the tape player that had been partially hidden by the spewing ink. “Maybe there’s something on this,” she said, turning it on.</p><p>There was a crackle and Wally’s voice came out of it. <em>“So, I go to get my dust pan from the hall closet the other day and guess what? I can’t find my stupid keys. It’s like they disappeared into thin air or something.</em></p><p>
  <em>“All I can think of is that they must have fallen into one of the garbage cans as I was making my rounds last week.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I just hope nobody tells Sammy. Because if he finds out I lost my keys again, I’m outta here!”</em>
</p><p>“Are you kidding me!?!” Ladybug cried. “Are we seriously supposed to backtrack and check every trash can we find until we <em>maybe </em>find a lost-”</p><p>“Hey, Ladybug,” Chat interrupted, looking at the lock. “Do you have a hairpin?”</p><p>Ladybug stopped her rant. “I do, why?” she asked, pulling it out of her yo-yo.</p><p>Chat didn’t answer, taking the hairpin and sticking it into the lock. A bit of scraping later, there was a click and the door opened.</p><p>“Open sesame,” he said, giving the hairpin back with a bow.</p><p>“How did you learn to do that?” she asked, impressed.</p><p>“YouTube tutorials.”</p><p>Inside the closet was not much, only cans of bacon soup, some unlit candles, and a tape recorded by one Sammy Lawrence. Chat was the one to pull out the player and turn it on.</p><p>
  <em>“Every artistic person has a sanctuary. Joey Drew has his and I have mine. To enter, you need only know my favorite song.</em>
</p><p><em>“The bass</em> <em>fiddle sings with deep articulation.</em></p><p>
  <em>“The drum thunders in triumph.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“The violin shudders with a piercing voice.</em>
</p><p><em>“The piano</em> <em>delicately calls.</em></p><p>
  <em>“Sing my song, and my sanctuary will open to you.”</em>
</p><p>The two heroes looked at each other. “Despite my misgivings,” Ladybug said, “it seems like we have to enter Sammy’s sanctuary.”</p><p>“I think I saw a music room back there,” Chat said. “Do you think that the sanctuary would be back there?”</p><p>“Good idea, Chat!” Ladybug said, beaming. “We’ll be out of here in no time!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 2-3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Well, this isn’t this working,” Ladybug remarked.</p><p>The two of them had played through Sammy’s song twice now, and so far, nothing had activated in response to it.</p><p>The Bendy cutout in the projector booth didn’t help matters.</p><p>Chat scratched his head. “Maybe there’s something we’re missing?”</p><p>“I think we are,” Ladybug answered. “But for the life of me, I can’t think of what it is.”</p><p>“Maybe this tape has something on it,” Chat said, picking it up and turning it on.</p><p>The tape crackled and a woman’s voice came out of it. <em>“It may only be my second month working for Joey Drew, but I can already tell that I’m going to love it here!</em></p><p>
  <em>“People really seem to love my Alice Angel voice. Sammy says she may be as popular as Bendy someday.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“These past few weeks I have voiced everything, from talking chairs to dancing chickens. But this is the first character I have really felt a connection with. Like she’s a part of me.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Alice and I, we are going places.”</em>
</p><p>“Okay, that wasn’t helpful,” Chat said, tossing the player to the side. “At all.”</p><p>“But that is a good idea though,” Ladybug added. “There’s probably a tape around here somewhere that can tell us what to do.”</p><p>“Yeah, what a coincidence that people leave tapes lying around where they would be useful.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Ladybug drew out, eyes narrowing slightly. “What a coincidence.”</p><p>Chat tensed. Ladybug had that face, the one that promised that someone would be in world of pain soon.</p><p>Still, they had bigger problems to worry about at the moment. “There’s going to be a lot of ground to cover,” he pointed out. “I think we should split up.”</p><p>Ladybug gave Chat a flat stare. “Chaton, hundreds of horror movies have proven why that is a bad idea,” she answered.</p><p>Chat grinned. “I would like to think that we are better prepared than your typical teenagers,” he replied.</p><p>“Okay, fine,” Ladybug decided. “But we keep in contact. And if one of us finds something unusual, we call the other one.”</p><p>Chat shot off a salute. “Right-o, M’Lady!”</p><p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p><p>Ladybug was inspecting a pool table when a call came through on her yo-yo. Opening it, she asked, “Did you find something, Chat?”</p><p><em>“Yes!” </em>came his excited voice. <em>“Come to the projector booth!”</em></p><p>“The what?”</p><p>
  <em>“The room above the music room.”</em>
</p><p>After nearly getting lost, she managed to find Chat in the room overlooking the band room with the Bendy cutout sitting in one of the music stands. “So, what did you find?” she asked.</p><p>“This!” Chat said, holding up a tape player labeled <em>Norman Polk </em>before pressing play.</p><p>There was a crackle and an older voice came out of the tape.</p><p>
  <em>“Every day, the same strange thing happens. I’ll be up here in my booth, the band will be swinging, and Sammy Lawrence just comes marching in and shuts the whole thing down. tells us all to wait in the hall.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Then I hear him. He starts up my projector, and he dashes from the projector booth like the little devil himself was chasing behind.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Few seconds later, the projector turns off. But Sammy, he doesn’t come out for a long time. This man is weird. Crazy weird.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I have half a mind to talk to Mister Drew about all this. But then again, I have to admit, Mister Drew has his own peculiarities.”</em>
</p><p>The tape clicked off, and Ladybug thought on it. after a minute, she addressed Chat. “Alright, here’s what we’re going to do…”</p><p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p><p>“Ready?” Ladybug called, looking up in the music room.</p><p>“I feel like I should be asking you that,” Chat answered from the projector booth. “But still, ready!”</p><p>“Hit it!”</p><p>There was a click, and an old cartoon started playing on the wall behind her. Ignoring the antics on screen, she ran through Sammy’s song, letting out a whoop when the sealed door opened.</p><p>“We did it!” she cheered… just before a loud crash sounded behind her. Turning around, she saw Chat Noir lying on the floor in a heap on top of some crushed cutouts. “What happened to you?” she found herself asking.</p><p>“Thought I’d take a shortcut and just jump down,” the dazed catboy replied. “Didn’t think the cutouts would meet me in midair.”</p><p>Ladybug raised an eyebrow. “But the cutouts were up… there…” the area where the cutouts had been was empty. “Something screwy is going on around here. Let’s get that leak cleared.”</p><p>“Right,” Chat said, following Ladybug into the sanctuary, snickering when a thought occurred to him. “How much did Joey pay Sammy to put this in here?”</p><p>“I’m just wondering why there is a toilet in here.”</p><p>“Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go.”</p><p>“Right. Well, let’s make like a certain janitor and get outta <em>SWEET CREATION KWAMI!”</em></p><p>Chat had thrown half his staff, spearing through the head of the Bendy cutout that had peaked around the corner. “There’s someone in the room!” he cried, running with the other half raised, Ladybug close behind him.</p><p>Only to confront an empty room. “Where did they go?” Chat asked, sounding as nervous as she felt.</p><p>She was almost relieved when the inky torsos started popping out of the floor again.</p><p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p><p>One one-sided beat down later, and the pair of heroes were back at Sammy’s office, where they met the next obstacle.</p><p>“I thought we drained this stuff!” Ladybug groused, glaring at the ink that was still spewing furiously.</p><p>“Maybe there’s another valve?” Chat asked, scratching his head.</p><p>“Where? We’ve searched the entire floor, and there’s no place it could be hiding.”</p><p>“Actually, I think we drained the ink that had flooded the Infirmity.”</p><p>Ladybug groaned. “I swear this place is nothing but fetch quests,” she grumbled.</p><p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p><p>“And what do you know, another one,” Ladybug sighed as the two of them looked at the place where a valve should be.</p><p>“Maybe this will help?” Chat asked, pulling on a lever that said <em>Utility Access. </em>“Onward and downward.”</p><p>The pair walked down the stairway, weapons at ready. “Down here, we are all sinners,” Ladybug remarked at a particular piece of graffiti. “Well, someone’s a bit gloomy,”</p><p>“Yeah,” Chat added looking down the hallway. “LB, look!”</p><p>Ladybug turned around to see a black figure slip into the ink. it vanished so quickly, all she caught was the glimpse of a hat and…</p><p>“Did that thing have the valve handle?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. 2-4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Stay still!” growled Chat, right before faceplanting into the ink.</p><p>“I swear, this like playing Whack-A-Mole,” Ladybug growled, picking herself up. “It went back up the passageway!”</p><p>“On it!” Chat acknowledged, running off. But before he could get too far, Ladybug grabbed his tail, stopping him.</p><p>“Let’s think on this, Kitty,” she said. “This obviously isn’t working.”</p><p>“Well, do you have a better idea?”</p><p>“Let me think.” Ladybug started pacing. “Fast reaction time,” she murmured. “But kinda slow. Has a pretty tight grip, gonna have to get him to loosen-”</p><p>“Hey LB, look at this!”</p><p>Ladybug turned around to see Chat activate a lever, sending a platform plummeting to the ground. The catboy then activated another lever, raising it up.</p><p>She stared at the platform. “Are we supposed to crush it?”</p><p>“Why not? We smashed a bunch of them already.”</p><p>“But they were attacking us. This one… it’s just standing around.”</p><p>“Well, unless you have a better idea…”</p><p>Ladybug hummed as she looked at the raised platform, then at the wall. “Sing with me,” she read thoughtfully. She then smirked. “I have an idea.”</p><p>-<strong>MToLaCNBatIM</strong>-</p><p>The Searcher that had once been known as Jack Fain popped out of the ink again. What did they have to keep bothering him? All he wanted to do was stay inside his nice, quiet, tun-</p><p>Where was that music coming from?</p><p>Turning to the side, he saw a small circle, swinging from a string. Now that he had noticed it, he could hear words as well.</p><p>
  <em>“When evil comes,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I find a way,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“To use my force,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“To save the day.”</em>
</p><p>It was two replays later that he noticed that his valve was missing.</p><p>-<strong>MToLaCNBatIM</strong>-</p><p>“Looks like it likes Clara Nightingale,” Chat said, watching the ink creature sway in time to the music.</p><p>Ladybug jumped from the hoisted pallet, handing Chat back his tail which she had used to hook the valve from the creature. “It was either her or Jagged Stone, and I didn’t want to scare him away.” She turned back to the creature which was still enraptured by the hanging yo-yo. “Now I feel bad that I’m going to have to take his music away.”</p><p>Chat thought for moment, then he pulled his phone out of his staff. Creeping up to the creature, he turned on his music and placed it on the ground where the creature could hear it.</p><p>“Chaton…” Ladybug said.</p><p>Chat shrugged. “It’s not very useful at the moment, and it’s not like I can’t buy another phone.”</p><p>With that, they left the Searcher to his music.</p><p>
  <strong>-MToLaCNBatIM-</strong>
</p><p>“Finally!” Ladybug cried upon seeing the door finally clear of ink. Opening it, she walked over to the switch and pulled it. “Alright, now let’s get out of-Chat, what are you doing?”</p><p>“Check this out, M’Lady,” Chat answered. “It’s blueprints for the Ink Machine!”</p><p>Intrigued, Ladybug joined him over at the desk. “We better take these with us,” she said, stuffing the papers into her yo-yo. “We can look it over for clues when we take the machine down. For now, let’s get out of here.”</p><p>“So what do you mean by taking the machine down?” Chat asked. “Why aren’t we doing it now?”</p><p>“We are deep in enemy territory, <em>chaton,” </em>Ladybug answered. “Plus, Master Fu would have more information on blood magic, and he would know what to do about this. Plus, we could get more Miraculous to deal with this <em>ink</em>-carnation.”</p><p>“M’Lady! You punned!”</p><p>“Well, I suppose that your sense of humor is <em>cat-</em>ching.”</p><p>Chat turned around, grin on his face, which he dropped and paled. “Ladybug, behind you!”</p><p>She immediately rolled forward, feeling a swish of something brushing her pigtails. She stood up in a crouch, yo-yo at ready facing what had been behind her.</p><p>It looked like a man made of ink, dressed in nothing but a pair of pants held up by suspenders and a Bendy mask covering his face. He was holding a metal dustpan in his hand.</p><p>He was also speaking. <em>“Sheep, sheep, sheep, it’s time for sleep…”</em></p><p>“Who are you?” Ladybug asked, tensing for a fight.</p><p>The man kept talking, ignoring Ladybug’s question. <em>“It’s not often that I get visitors,” </em>he said swinging his weapon. <em>“It makes what I am about to do seem… cruel.”</em></p><p>“Cruel?” she echoed, not liking the implications of that.</p><p><em>“But the time of sacrifice is at hand!” </em>he continued.<em> “I must have him notice me! And then I will finally be free! Free of this inky abyss I call a body!”</em></p><p>“You want to sacrifice us?” Chat nearly screeched.</p><p><em>“Of course,” </em>the man said. <em>“After all, the believers must honor their savior.”</em></p><p>And then he rushed them.</p><p>The resulting fight was quite interesting to say the least. The ink man was fast, but fought as if he had a longer weapon. However, the dustpan had a sting when it connected with one of the heroes, often releasing a spray of ink to splatter on the he struck teen.</p><p>Soon though, Ladybug had enough. <strong><em>“LUCKY CHARM!” </em></strong>she called, catching the falling object. Then the masked creature was coming for her, swinging the dustpan at her face. Instinctively, she swung her summoned object at him.</p><p>The dustpan caught the lid of the black-spotted paint can, popping it off and splashing red paint all over the ink man.</p><p><em>“I can’t see!” </em>he cried, waving his arms everywhere, then running forward. After running into a few walls and yelling out about his lack of sight a few more times, he finally ran into a crack in the wall and vanished from sight.</p><p>The two superheroes blinked, caught off guard by the ink man’s sudden reaction. “Well, that was unexpected,” Chat Noir finally said.</p><p>“Think about that later, <em>chaton,” </em>Ladybug said. “I’m on a timer now, so let’s revisit that later.”</p><p>The two of them hurried down the cleared hallway, following the convenient signs. However, after wading through a large puddle of ink, Ladybug’s timer ran out, and she detransformed.</p><p>“Shoot,” Marinette said after the light faded. “Now we’ve got to hurry before that ink monster finds us.”</p><p>Tikki looked nervously at her, no <em>behind </em>her.</p><p>“It’s right behind us, isn’t it,” Marinette said flatly.</p><p>“Yep,” Tikki answered.</p><p>“Okay,” Marinette said, before dropping down.</p><p>Chat’s baton swung over her head, before impacting into ‘Bendy’s’ torso, sending the ink monster flying against the wall. “Run, Mari!” he cried. “I’ll hold him off!”</p><p>Marinette started running. “Eat quickly, Tikki!” she said, all but shoving the kwami into her purse.</p><p>That was when she tripped. As she landed, pain exploded in her leg causing her to cry out.</p><p>“Marinette!” cried Chat. This distraction was enough for ‘Bendy’ to grab him, but the large monster was unable to stop a muffled “Cataclysm” from escaping his mouth. Dark energy erupted from his hand, coming into contact with the oversized white glove.</p><p>‘Bendy’ screamed.</p><p>The eight teeth that covered his mouth creaked until all of them snapped, releasing a primal cry of pain. The pained monster howled again and dropped the catboy. Dark energy writhed over its body, burning away the ink. With a final cry of pain, the monster vanished into the ink minus an arm.</p><p>“Mari!” Adrien cried, dropping his transformation. “Are you alright?”</p><p>"I'm fine-aw!" she hissed, trying to get up. "Okay, I'm not fine."</p><p>"You probably shouldn't put any pressure on that leg."</p><p>"Great. As if we didn't have enough to deal with, I now have a broken leg!"</p><p>Tikki popped out of Marinette’s leg with a pensive look on her face. “I don’t think it’s broken,” she said. “But Adrien’s right. You probably shouldn’t put any pressure on it.”</p><p>Marinette grimaced. “Great,” she groused. “This is just great. I’m going to be slowing us down now.”</p><p>“I can carry you,” Adrien offered. “At least until we can get to a safe place.”</p><p>“That works,” she replied. “Let’s hurry before something else finds us.”</p><p>“Well at least we don’t have to worry about that thing anymore,” Adrien said as Marinette wrapped her arms around his shoulders.</p><p>Plagg spoke up then. “It’s not dead, kid. Cataclysm works by intent. You don’t want to kill, so it doesn’t kill. That thing is going to be in a lot of pain until it heals, or Pigtails casts her Cure.”</p><p>“Still, we should keep moving,” Tikki said worryingly. “We don’t know what else is in here.”</p><p>Adrien heeded her advice and started forward, the two kwamis keeping an eye out. Finally, they came to a storage space, which Plagg opened so that the two humans could slip inside.</p><p>“I need to rest,” Adrien panted, placing Marinette on the floor.</p><p>Marinette almost replied, then she paused before a spark of mischief enter her eye. “Are you saying I’m fat, <em>chaton?” </em>she asked teasingly.</p><p>Adrien’s face turned red. “N-no!” he stuttered, caught off guard. “What-what I meant to say was-”</p><p>But what he meant to say was left unsaid, because just then a can of bacon soup rolled out from behind the corner, causing the two teens to tense.</p><p>“Anyone back there?” Adrien called. “Because we’ve got a Plagg, and we’re not afraid to use him.”</p><p>“Hey!” the floating black cat protested.</p><p>A beat, and then out from behind the corner walked out…</p><p>“Boris?”</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>
  <em>Chapter 2 is complete.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bendy will return…</em>
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